It’s a difficult time to work in tech—there are some things ping pong tables and office arcades can’t fix.
Layoffs in the industry have increased tenfold from 2021 to 2022, creating an omnipresent threat for those lucky enough to still be in their role. And at companies like Twitter, one’s future depends on the CEO’s priorities, which could change on a dime. Even workers at more seemingly solid companies like Salesforce, Amazon, or Meta haven’t been spared the industry-wide hemorrhage of jobs.
None of that seems to be enough to knock tech work off its pedestal. According to this year’s U.S. News and World Report list of Best Jobs, the best job in America is a software developer. Four other tech jobs, including web developer and IT manager, made the top 10, alongside a range of health-sector jobs.
In assembling its rankings, U.S. News conducted its own interviews and analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics based on several factors, including stress level, work-life balance, median salary, unemployment rate, and projected job openings from 2021 to 2031.
All this is to say that software developers are less stressed, have a healthier work-life balance, and make good money: a median $120,000 annually. By 2031, a predicted 370,600 new software developer jobs are supposed to open up—an above-average rate.
“Software developers are becoming increasingly critical for the growth and sustained success of businesses across industries,” Janica Ingram, careers editor at US News, wrote. Such workers are predicted to stay in high demand, she added, due to the rising number of products and services that leverage software.
Tech pros are a hot commodity
Between the layoffs, rescinded offers, and indefinite pauses on growth, workers with transferable software skills are rarely out of a job for long—many companies even admit to rushing to scoop up talent after big-scale layoffs.
“Despite the widespread layoffs, hiring freezes, and cost-cutting taking place in tech, many tech workers are finding reemployment remarkably quickly,” Julia Pollak, ZipRecruiter chief economist, told the Wall Street Journal. “They’re still the most sought-after workers with the most in-demand skills,” and they’re the “most likely to land on their feet.”
The vast majority of laid-off tech workers—about 79%—find work within three months of searching, per a ZipRecruiter survey. Thirty-seven percent of laid-off tech workers got a new job in less than a month.
Analysis from Revelio Labs found that 72% of laid-off tech workers were back in business within 90 days. Software engineers were especially lucky; 79% of them got a new job within that time frame. And, the analysis found, just over half of tech workers who got laid off ended up earning more in their new job.
“The key takeaway is ‘do not despair,’” Reyhan Ayas, a senior economist at Revelio Labs, told Insider. “The job market is still hot.”
It’s also hot for healthcare workers; this year’s devastating cold and flu season has reiterated what Ingram calls “the ever-present human need” them. Nearly 40% of the U.S. News’s Top 100 Best Jobs are in either healthcare or healthcare support, which is perhaps unsurprising, given their above-average salaries and barely-there unemployment rates.
Even so, tech workers eked their way to the top. And even if they’re unhappy where they are, they don’t need to worry about their prospects. According to experts at McKinsey and Blackrock, every company in 2023 is a software company.
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